Use Board Games to Further Academic Skills
Board games provide a fun way to bring the family together, but they can also help develop academic skills. Parents who want to bring the family together and help their children move forward with their education without being too pushy about it can choose from a number of games based on the skills they are trying to develop.
Monopolize the Math
Monopoly is a tried and true family favorite. Not only is it a fun game to play, but the whole family gets to brush up on their math skills while they try to manage money, develop groups of property, and try to avoid hefty fines. Even the act of rolling the dice helps younger children with rote counting and addition skills.
Make History with Chess
Chess is a classic game that helps develop real life strategy skills. Children can learn about the value of specific players and relate that to their lives in such a way as to realize that every player has a purpose. If the game is taught correctly, the parent can also help children understand the significance of the pieces as related to history. For help with specific times in history, play the game giving names to the pieces as if they were historical figures at war.
Spell Things Out
As with other skill sets, there are a variety of board games that can help with spelling and language arts in general. Scrabble and Boggle are just a couple of the many board games that can help with spelling skills. These games can even be modified to fit each age group. For instance, if the game is being played with a variety of age groups, make a rule that the number of syllables in the word has to be the same as the number of digits in the age of the player.
There is nothing wrong with playing board games just for the fun of it. Even so, parents would be wise to use every advantage they can find when it comes to helping their children develop academic skills.
